Emotions take over as Texas Stadium comes down

IRVING – With his daughter and granddaughter sobbing next to him, a grim-faced Jerry Jones watched as Texas Stadium imploded at 7:06 a.m. Sunday.

“More so than I thought it would be,” said Jones when asked how emotional the event was for him. “It’s sad. That’s about all you can say.”

Former players and cheerleaders joined more than 5,000 fans in watching 2,715 pounds of explosives reduce the iconic building with the hole in the roof to rubble.

“I’m so thankful they handed out Kleenex,” said Pam Neal, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader in the mid-1970s. “I’m sure I’ll be crying throughout the day. It’s sad knowing you will never walk down that tunnel again onto the field and look up through the hole in the roof. It’s hard to say goodbye.”

The only part of the stadium left standing after the implosion were three of the 12 giant concrete buttresses that surrounded the building, which opened in 1971.

Bruce Hardy, the general manager of Texas Stadium for its final 25 years, said the three buttresses signified to him the three Super Bowls the team won during the Jones era.

“I can sit here and smile now, but my heart went to my toes when the roof over my office caved in,” Hardy, 63, said minutes after the implosion, which lasted less than 60 seconds.

“How many times did I walk in and out of that door?

“…It’s hard, but it’s over with. All that’s left now are the memories.”

Bruce Hardy was the general manager of Texas Stadium for 25 years, a span that covered Jones’ stint as owner.